Geomythology is a word coined by the geologist Dorothy Vitaliano in her 1973 book Legends of the Earth^[306] to describe a distinct field of study. Since then the term has gained widespread acceptance including an extensive entry in the Encyclopedia of Geology^(a). An acceptable brief definition is “Geomythology is the study of alleged references to geological events in mythology.” The status of the subject has been consolidated by its inclusion as a separate university course^(b). Apart from Vitaliano other writers, such as Gerald Wells, have applied geomythology to the study of Atlantis without necessarily using the term.

^(a) http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPST/MayorGeomythology.pdf

^(b) http://www2.ups.edu/faculty/jtepper/Geomythology/Geomyth.htm